Writing prompt challenge - Blood
by firezone783
Summary: "She's fine Doctor. There's nothing wrong with her. She's just got her period is all. Left her some of my stuff so she's not caught off guard by it next time." Even Mickey knew exactly what she was talking about but both Caligo and the Doctor seemed to be beyond confused. "It's a human female thing, Doc."


HELLA DISCLAIMER ON DOCTOR WHO GUYS. THAT IS ALL. This was just me playing around with an idea I had for another project that's distracted me now. Most basic context of it is that the OC Caligo was accidentally fatally wounded and an alien race was able to save her with their advanced technology - but at a price. Time Lord DNA had been discovered, a remnant but it was enough to create a treatment that could essentially bring a person back from the edge of death. Using the DNA, they saved her but were unable to extract it from her body again when she was sufficiently healed and past events make her body vulnerable to taking in new DNA and mutating much like a virus does. Who knows what it'll do to her now...

Caligo had been in her workshop of a room, nursing the still tender but rapidly healing scar from a plasma blast that should've killed her, when she noticed it. The dull, knotting pain just below her stomach, an odd sluggishness in her body and the way the room spun when she tried to sit up. What made her actually get out of bed, however, was the blood that had seeped through her cotton shorts and into her sheets as she had been laying there. She touched it; Deep crimson and fresh and she could feel more of it too oddly enough. Glancing up at the ceiling, Caligo could practically hear the Tardis groan as if the ship knew something was amiss as well.

Ignoring the growing pain in her abdomen, Caligo rolled herself out of bed and made her way to the consul room. The Doctor was already there doing whatever he did best when they had their idle moments and immediately looked up at her from his spot at the control panels. His eyes were trained on her as she came closer, quickly picking out the surprising amount of blood on her shorts, legs and hands. She simply stood there for a moment staring at him blankly. "I don't know," was all she managed to say as he came over to her.

He was in front of her in the blink of an eye and took her hands in his to examine the now sticky red mess smeared all over her fingers. The Doctor grabbed his sonic from his coat and scanned the mess briefly. It was definitely her blood and it was fresh but there was something about it that he just couldn't pick up on. "Cal, listen to me alright? Stay right there and stay calm," he told her, despite the fact that she didn't seem to be panicking in the slightest. Still, he kept an eye on her as he backed away to the consul before hurriedly pressing all sorts of buttons and flipping switches.

Caligo could feel the Tardis moving and watched the Doctor dash over to one of the monitors to fiddle with the dials. Eventually, a woman came into view and she looked quite surprised.

"Doctor? How'd you get on this frequency?"

"Explanation later. Martha, I need a really big favor from you so would you come outside? We should have just landed."

"Outside? Doctor, Mickey and I are in the middle of," she paused, the wheeze like sound the Tardis makes echoing in the phone call. "Alright, I'll be right there."

"I can always count on you Martha." He grinned at the screen and not a minute later Martha came stumbling into the Tardis with a very large rifle on her back. "Oi. Cal, this is Martha Jones. One of my previous companions. Martha, that's Caligo and the reason why I called."

"Don't need to tell me twice," she muttered quietly, already seeing the blood all over the lower half of Caligo's body. "Come on then. Med bay. And Doctor, maybe you could give Mickey a hand while we're busy?"

An explosion from outside caused Caligo to crane her head to see what exactly the problem was. It sounded like a fight. Something she was good at but knowing the Doctor, he'd never let her go out there if they didn't know what was wrong with her. "Yuki," she barked, and the armored drone shot out the door into whatever mess that was.

"I'll call you when we're done Doctor. Stay out of too much trouble, yeah?"

Half an hour in and the Doctor and Mickey had finally pried off the alien parasite stealing power from their camp's generator. He did have to say though, the drone turning it into a smoldering pile of ash was a bit much even if it was about to bite someone's face off.

"Blimey, they've been in there for ages now…"

"Relax Doctor. Martha knows what she's doing."

Speaking of whom, Martha exited the Tardis along with Caligo now in a pair of clean clothes and smiled at him. "She's fine Doctor. There's nothing wrong with her. She's just got her period is all. Left her some of my stuff so she's not caught off guard by it next time."

"Her what?"

"My what?"

Even Mickey knew exactly what she was talking about but both Caligo and the Doctor seemed to be beyond confused. "It's a human female thing, Doc," he said reassuringly but the looks on their faces didn't change for the better. "Haven't you ever had one before?"

Caligo looked down at herself for a moment, unsure of what to say. "No. All Draugr are sterilized when commissioned. They also remove organs such as the appendix and tonsils to prevent them from causing problems and a subtotal hysterectomy is performed on women to avoid the risk of potential procreation during missions." Her gaze was met by their shocked and possibly disturbed ones. "It's standard procedure." Little comfort, she figured.

A hasty entrance made for a hasty exit as well and the moment they were back on board the Tardis the Doctor was at it again with his sonic.

"This is not possible. I'm telling you honestly that I'm incapable-"

"Yeah well the Tardis and Martha, an actual doctor mind you, say you've got all your lady parts." He stopped and looked back at her. "Internal lady parts. Sorry." The Doctor ignored the slight roll of her eyes and looked at his sonic screwdriver. "Must be the Time Lord DNA that got stuck in your cells… It's spreading and I suppose you're basically regenerating if it even goes on that far…"  
"Regenerating," she repeated as if letting the meaning of the word sink into her mind. The Doctor had gone off on some kind of rickety explanation of the theory thinned down for her human mind but Caligo couldn't find the ability to pay attention to him. She looked back down, hands on her abdomen for some time and practically whispered, "I could have children."

"Depending on which species you're compatible with, yes but-" The Doctor stopped when he looked back at her again. She wasn't moving, not even an inch. She just stood there holding her stomach. "Cal," he called softly, urging her to look up at him. Her eyes were swimming, something he hadn't seen in her for such a long time and although her expression didn't quite show it, her eyes did. Fear, apprehension, joy, complete and utter despair. "Can doesn't mean have to. Whatever else the DNA does to you I promise you I'll be here every step of the way."

The Doctor didn't know what to think when she didn't speak or move, simply continuing to stare at him with those doe eyes of hers. He took her by the hand and sat down on the steps with her, waiting for her to catch her bearings on the situation. He could feel the tension in her hands, the fear wafted off of her as a bead of sweat coursed down her neck and… A consuming loneliness. He almost couldn't help recoiling at the revelation of the wave of emotion hitting him. He shouldn't be feeling it. Shouldn't be so in tuned with her unless… _She might end up being more Gallifreian than human_ , he thought, and he wasn't sure how to feel about that.


End file.
